Location : Cleveland, OH
Twenty-two year old Larkin Connor Barkley
is famous for the same reason that Paris Hilton is famous. She also has
a pocket dog and drives an expensive convertible. Driving home, after an
evening of clubbing (but not drunk or high; she's been clean and sober
for a while), she crashes into a Mercedes. She attempts to help the occupants,
but they refuse any and all advances of assistance. When the police arrive,
the only signs of a crash are from Larkin and her car. The other car is
gone. Forty-eight hours later, agents from the Department of Justice and
the U.S. Attorney's office arrive at her house. Six days after the crash,
there's an attempt on her life. Taken to a safe house, another attempt
on her life is thwarted. Eleven days after the crash, Joe Pike enters her
life.
Joe Pike, whom some people may know from Crais' Elvis Cole mysteries, is ex-Marine, ex-LAPD, and a very capable, dangerous man assigned to safeguard Larkin until her testimony is needed to put a drug dealer in prison. Pike speaks little, which is in conflict with Larkin's continual chatting. However, he is the one person that can drop off the grid, keep the girl alive, and survive using his skills, where he investigates an apparent leak in Larkin's security and takes the fight to those that wish her dead.
Joe Pike is for those people that currently enjoy Lee Child's Jack Reacher, Stephen Hunter's Bob Lee Swagger. However, there is something different about Pike. He seems harder, more distant than either Reacher or Swagger. For someone used to those characters, Pike is "familiar" but different. As hard and as quiet as he is, Crais could have fallen into cliche, but that is not the case with The Watchman. Crais spins an excellent, taunt thriller where two damaged people, Larkin and Pike, need each other to survive. The really interesting aspect of the novel is that the secondary characters are very well drawn. While Pike is the central character, he is an enigma. Yes, you learn about his background, however you really aren't able to craft a solid mental picture of him. Another area where The Watchman excels is in the plot. Crais could have created the first Pike novel with many story arcs but he keeps it relatively simple. Joe Pike, like the reader, is perplexed at the interest in Larkin and, together, we investigate the Federal agents, the individuals involved in the accident, and Larkin's family. Crais keeps the action moving, the dialogue crisp, and throws in some excellent plot twists.
The Watchman is an wonderful mystery focused on one of the best characters in fiction, Joe Pike.
Disclosure:
Obtained from: Library
Payment: Borrowed
Technorati tag: book review Robert Crais Joe Pike
Joe Pike, whom some people may know from Crais' Elvis Cole mysteries, is ex-Marine, ex-LAPD, and a very capable, dangerous man assigned to safeguard Larkin until her testimony is needed to put a drug dealer in prison. Pike speaks little, which is in conflict with Larkin's continual chatting. However, he is the one person that can drop off the grid, keep the girl alive, and survive using his skills, where he investigates an apparent leak in Larkin's security and takes the fight to those that wish her dead.
Joe Pike is for those people that currently enjoy Lee Child's Jack Reacher, Stephen Hunter's Bob Lee Swagger. However, there is something different about Pike. He seems harder, more distant than either Reacher or Swagger. For someone used to those characters, Pike is "familiar" but different. As hard and as quiet as he is, Crais could have fallen into cliche, but that is not the case with The Watchman. Crais spins an excellent, taunt thriller where two damaged people, Larkin and Pike, need each other to survive. The really interesting aspect of the novel is that the secondary characters are very well drawn. While Pike is the central character, he is an enigma. Yes, you learn about his background, however you really aren't able to craft a solid mental picture of him. Another area where The Watchman excels is in the plot. Crais could have created the first Pike novel with many story arcs but he keeps it relatively simple. Joe Pike, like the reader, is perplexed at the interest in Larkin and, together, we investigate the Federal agents, the individuals involved in the accident, and Larkin's family. Crais keeps the action moving, the dialogue crisp, and throws in some excellent plot twists.
The Watchman is an wonderful mystery focused on one of the best characters in fiction, Joe Pike.
Disclosure:
Obtained from: Library
Payment: Borrowed
Technorati tag: book review Robert Crais Joe Pike
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